Do you love to put fresh bread on the table every night?
I sure do!
But most days you simply don’t have time to do the whole waiting on bread to rise thing.
And those are the days that I turn to my favorite sourdough soda bread recipe!
Instead of yeast, a soda bread uses, you guessed it, baking soda and baking powder to rise. It’s activated by buttermilk in this recipe.
Do you remember that time in middle school science when you made that volcano?
And you put the baking soda in the middle and then that cute boy poured too much vinegar in?
You remember the gush of bubbles that came out and got all over that mean girl’s notebook?
And then y’all didn’t get to go to recess because you had to clean up the floor?
Remember now?
Same thing happens here.
Only not nearly so dramatically…
With soda breads there’s no kneading and no waiting for it to rise.
You can mix it up and pop it straight in the oven and it can bake while you’re fixing dinner.
And as a bonus you can use discard starter!
Don’t have a sourdough starter yet? Grab a copy of my eBook “Learn How to Create a Sourdough Starter” and get yours going today!
So let’s do this!
Sourdough Soda Bread
- 1 c sourdough discard starter
- ½ c buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 2-3 c flour
- ½ c rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.
Now melt your butter. I like to melt mine in my cast iron melting pot.
Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle it with flour. Then set it aside.
Grab a medium bowl and whisk together the starter, buttermilk, the egg, and the melted butter.
wet ingredients
Just as an aside, y’all, I love this flat whisk! It’s so much better than the ballon ones because you don’t have to dig stuff out of the middle.
In a separate, larger bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, the rolled oats (keeping a few aside to sprinkle on the top), baking soda, baking powder, and the sea salt.
and the dry stuff
Now we’re going to add the sourdough buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix that up well. It will be a sticky dough.
If it’s dry and crumbly add a little more buttermilk a Tbsp at a time. If it’s really sticky add some more flour a Tbsp at a time.
mixed up and sticky
You want it kinda sticky, but you need to be able to form it into a ball. The picture there is way too sticky. I added quite a bit more flour.
Now form the dough into a ball and place it on the center of your prepared baking sheet.
in a ball on the baking sheet
Using a pastry brush, brush buttermilk on the top of the dough. Then sprinkle a few oats over the top.
buttermilked and sprinkled
To make sure it rises well, grab a sharp knife or a bakers lame and cut a deep “X” across the top. And by deep, I mean it needs to go about 1/3 of the way down.
deep X
Pop that baby into the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a beautiful golden brown.
bee-u-tee-ful golden brown
You should let the bread cool for about 15 minutes before you cut it.
If you can. 🙂
I usually can’t…
This sourdough soda bread is great with any meal just the way it is. But sometimes if we’re having something Italian inspired, I’ll brush it with garlic butter instead of buttermilk.
I store the little bit that’s left over in a linen bread bag.
I have no idea how long this might last sitting on the counter, because I’ve never had any longer than 3 days.
It makes great toast with butter and jam, and a pretty awesome French Toast.
Assuming you didn’t put garlic butter on it. Because if you did, that would make terrible French Toast…
More Sourdough Discard recipes you’ll enjoy:
Sourdough Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 1 c sourdough starter unfed/discard
- ½ c buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp butter melted
- 2-3 c flour
- ½ c rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 400°F.
- Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper and lightly sprinkle it with flour.
- Whisk together the starter, buttermilk, egg, and the melted butter.
- In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, the rolled oats (keeping a few aside to sprinkle on the top), baking soda, baking powder, and the sea salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. It will be a slightly sticky dough.
- If it’s dry and crumbly add a little more buttermilk a Tbsp at a time. If it’s really sticky add some more flour a Tbsp at a time. It should be sticky, but dry enough to form it into a ball.
- Form the dough into a ball and place it on the center of your prepared baking sheet.
- Cut a deep “X” across the top.
- Using a pastry brush, brush buttermilk on the top of the dough. Sprinkle oats on the top.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a beautiful golden brown.
- Let the bread cool for 15 minutes before you cut it.
Karen says
Just made this morning because I wanted to try new discard recipe. It is delicious and my daily loved it! Tastes like the real soda bread you get over in Ireland. Thank you!
Cery says
Hi Karen!
I’m so glad you liked it! I love that it’s so fast and easy to make.
Blessings!
Cery